Greeting and Defiance
by Tolkien'sInkwell
Summary: In the aftermath of the Pullulus, Roshaun fell prey to a strange, unpleasant fate. He sent out a cry for help. It would change the lives of him and his rescuer in ways neither of them could have imagined. WAW spoilers!
1. Rescue Mission

** do not own this fandom . . .**

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My name is Eternity Silkwood. I'm Goth, one of the small percentage of Goths who were actually raised that way. Everyone in my family has dabbled in the occult at one point or another. That's the main reason that, once I found out that _real_ magic isn't anything like the stuff I grew up knowing about, I didn't just accept it. I thought, Why_shouldn't_ I intertwine wizardry and Wicca-style magic? Then I started breaking rules. Not major ones, just the stupid ones.

Until the Pullulus, my life was almost painfully normal, in a Gothic sort of way. I went to school, hung out with my friends, helped my brother Zane write depressing song lyrics, made wizard gadgets, went on errantry (but only occasionally, because no one wants a rogue wizard solving their problems). You know, normal teenage-wizard stuff. Even when the Pullulus showed up, my life didn't totally turn upside down. I went to the moon, saw that crazy business with a dog being the One (I'm scared for the universe now), and thought that I'd go on as though nothing had ever happened.

Then I had the dream.

At first, there was just white light all around me. No sky, no ground, even though it felt like I was standing on something as opposed to being suspended in midair. Just light. Then I saw him. To the untrained eye, he would have looked like a college-aged human guy, but I could tell that he was definitely not human. He was apparently suspended in the middle of this light, not

allowed freedom of movement like I was. I had never seen him before. But he looked, not_at_ me, but as though he couldn't see me but knew someone was there.

"Where are we?" I asked him in the Speech.

"I don't know. My manual's gone. I can't transport."

As I watched, the light kind of wound itself around him, drawing him away from me. He gazed at me with desperate eyes and entreated, "Come find me."

Most dreams are meaningless. Just our brains trying to make sense of the things that happen to us while we're awake. But some dreams come from outside our minds. This was a dream like that. For one thing, hours after I woke up, I could still remember it perfectly. And besides, would I be able to invent such a vivid image of someone I'd never seen, never seen anyone like?

By the time I got home from school, I'd made up my mind. I'd had that dream for a reason. Whoever that strange wizard was, I was going to find him.

If you're a wizard looking for another wizard, there are plenty of ways to go about it. If you can hack into your wizard's manual, it's even easier. But none of those ways are any good at all if you don't know the name of the wizard you're looking for. Once I was safely closeted in my room, I tried all the logical searches – list of known races with humanoid appearance, list of wizards belonging to said race, status of each wizard, on the lookout for anyone with Status Unknown or Location Undetermined, or anything else weird. Problem was, the Pullulus wreaked bloody havoc with the world of wizardry. Half the wizards I looked up had weird stuff attached to their descriptions, any of which could possibly consist of being held prisoner in a weird light place.

Then I tried looking up the place. Guess how far _that_ got me. I'd pretty much gathered that it was more than just some weird planet – I mean, no ground, no sky, no _nothing_? There's nowhere like that in_this _corner of theuniverse! Maybe it wasn't even a place at all. Maybe it was a metaphor for something. The Powers That Be like metaphors.

So, in the end, it came down to field work. I changed out of my floor-length skirt, fringy blouse, and four-inch heels and into jeans, a plain shirt, and sneakers, and fetched my "errantry bag" out of my closet. There's really nothing special about the bag, it's just a black mini-messenger bag that I happen to love dearly. Anyway, it contains shampoo, soap, deodorant, hairbrush, writing utensils, portable transit necklace, and some other magical paraphernalia – in short, everything a teenage girl wizard needs to save the universe in comfort and style. (Ha-ha.) My wizard's manual, however, is too valuable to go more than a layer of cloth away from my skin and therefore went in the inside pocket of my jacket.

I have to explain some things about my manual. First of all, it is no longer in its original form. At first glance, it looks like an iPhone, only without the little apple logo. But it has little buttons that turn it into about every magically-alter-able electronic/digital device known to man . . . including a laptop. The laptop has my manual on it. I have hacked into my manual so that I can access information only given in dire emergencies. If my resident Seniors, two guys named Tom and Carl, ever got wind of it, they'd probably banish me from the planet, but since I've spoken to them a grand total of once, I think I'm safe.

Now, no one in my family knows about my wizardry. Since it doesn't involve herbs and pentacles, I don't think they'd quite understand. But no one in my family pays much attention to me, either. So while I couldn't exactly go on a full-scale adventure without some serious prep work, I could easily sneak away for an afternoon of snooping. In this case, I was going to the Crossings. Because if my missing wizard had gone anywhere recently, and he probably had, what with the Pullulus and everything, there had to be _someone_ who knew where he'd been last. And what better place to start than at the Crossings?

So I set my watch to Crossings time and programmed the alarm to go off after one (Earth) hour. Then I entered the Crossings via my transit necklace, which will take me practically anywhere in the universe.

I've been to the Crossings. I'm inactive, but not _that_ inactive. But I still felt a stab of dismay as I looked out at the crowd of wizards rushing to and fro across the terminal. It was just so _big_. What were the odds that I was going to come across the one person who had the information I needed?

Apparently, better than I thought. I flagged down wizards largely at random and was blown off, snapped at, and given well-meaning but unbelievably vague answers. But then, finally, I asked one of the Rirhait in charge of the Crossings, which took a lot of courage on my part because they looked like giant centipedes and I _really_ don't like anything with a ton of legs, especially those six-inch-long centipedes – have you ever seen one? They are _nasty_! I've got spine chills just _thinking_ about them.

Sorry. Where was I? Oh. Right. The giant centipede-slash-Crossings-guardian. He/she/it turned towards me, and I gave him/her/it my by-now-perfected spiel.

"Um, hi. I'm looking for a wizard, um, he looks like me, only male, and he's got really long blond hair and he's, um, he's really pretty looking, he looks like he's my age but he's not human like me. Oh, and, um, he's wearing this really big shirt with some kind of logo on it. So, has anyone like that come through here recently?"

"Are you talking about Roshaun?" the alien asked, but it wasn't really a question. As though there was only one wizard who could possibly fit my description. _Roshaun_. A name. As I've said before, there are zillions of ways to find a wizard once you know their name.

"Um. Yes. Yes, that's him," I responded, thinking _If this turns out to be a false lead, I am going to feel SO STUPID. _

"He went with Dairine and the rest of them. I think there was some weirdness on your moon. Ask Dairine or her sister," the Rirhait (sing.?) informed me.

I thanked him/her/it profusely and hurried away to find a secluded corner – which ended up being my bedroom, since the Crossings is about as private as an airport – in which to look up Roshaun. As it turns out, there are multiple wizards named Roshaun, all of them from some planet I'd never heard of called Wellakh. Fortunately for me, there was only one who could possibly be my wizard.

Name: Roshaun ke Nelaid am Seriv am Teliuyve am Meseph am Veliz am Terianst am det Nuiiliat

Status: Unknown

Last known location: the Moon

The manual also told me that Roshaun had recently channeled an enormous amount of power,_way_ above the recommended limit for a Wellakhit wizard (I looked it up). See? This is the kind of stuff only a manual-hacker can find out.

I decided to look up that Dairine person the Rirhait (sing.?) had mentioned.

Name: Dairine Callahan

Status: Inactive

Last known location: her house, located (Hallelujah!) only a few blocks from mine

Dairine had channeled nearly the same amount of power, at the same time. Presumably this gigantic spell, or whatever it was, had had something to do with Roshaun's disappearance. I mean, a person can't have that much raw power flowing through them and have _nothing_ happen. But_still_. It's not supposed to make you _disappear_.

I had to find out what had happened on the Moon. I mean, I knew the basic gist of it. I was _there_, after all. I saw the thing with the twychild and that awesome light-knife (could that have been them? Roshaun and Dairine, that is?) and the dog becoming the One and all of that. But knowing all of that? Did not bring me any closer to saving Roshaun.

I was smart enough to realize that Dairine (whoever she was) could probably help me. But did I simply walk up to her front door and request her assistance, the way a normal person would? No. I opted to invade Dairine's mind instead. In the middle of the night. With the aid of pre-prepared mind-meld, shield, and sleep net that wore me out so badly I crashed right after dinner and slept the sleep of the completely exhausted until my alarm went off in the wee hours of the morning and I got up, dressed, and snuck out of my house. Actually getting to Dairine's house wasn't too much of a problem. It took maybe ten minutes' walk, using my manual-slash-iPhone's navigation system. Once I got there, I activated the shield and threw my sleep net over the house so that I wouldn't be interrupted by someone waking up in the middle of the night. Only, as it turned out, my sleep net was too small. Dammit! Next, I realized that I actually had no clue what Dairine Callahan looked like. Double dammit! So I sat down on the Callahans' front steps, whipped out my laptop, and performed a hasty search. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but the shield only covered me, my clothes, and my bag, so that anyone happening to look out their window would have seen a disembodied laptop floating on their neighbors' front porch. Freaky. Also, I neglected to put a sleep net over my house, and my brother Zane is a notoriously light sleeper.

So, basically, by the time I began the actual breaking and entering, I was in a state of barely-controlled panic. "Open," I whispered in the Speech to the locked front door.

Can't. Locked.

"Then unlock!"_Damn inanimate objects, always so literal about everything . . ._ I know about ten different unlocking spells, but even the simplest of them uses up energy, and I needed all my energy for mind-melding.

I entered some commands into my manual, which was now back in its usual, palm-sized form. Then, holding it in front of me like a Geiger counter, I started roaming through the house. In case you're wondering what the hell I was doing, I was looking for traces of wizardry – since Dairine was a wizard, it makes sense that there would be spells near her. Small problem – there were two distinct sets of readings, implying that there were two different wizards in the house. This was getting _so_ much more complicated than it had to be.

But it wasn't actually that complicated. Just slightly traumatizing. Now I have random nightmares about breaking into places and getting arrested. But anyway, I followed my manual's signal down the upstairs hallway and eventually into Dairine Callahan's bedroom.

I'd never made a mind-meld before, so I had some trouble, at first, getting Dairine's synapses to stop firing randomly and start showing me something useful. But eventually I "saw" all of her memories concerning Roshaun. He'd stayed with her as some kind of wizard exchange student (and I was not informed of this program because . . .?), they'd saved our sun from basically burning the world to a crisp, which had apparently happened to Roshaun's own world, of which he was prince, but a lot of that part was lost on me because Dairine hadn't been there for all of it. Then there was something about a planet inhabited by little robot things, and another planet inhabited by giant bugs, and, of course, the arrival of the Hesper (to a race of bugs?), and a few other things. Then, _finally_, we were on the Moon. Roshaun attempted to defeat the Pullulus by channeling some of the Sun's energy, Dairine helped him, so their two minds were joined, and then . . . he was gone. One minute his consciousness was there. The next it had completely vanished, along with everything else but his Sunstone (whatever that was).

I pulled out of Dairine's mind and practically ran back out onto the street, where, if someone saw me, I wouldn't get arrested, and, heart pounding, stopped to analyze the images I'd received. They were chronically _un_helpful, unless you count showing me that Dairine Callahan was one of the least-likeable people I'd ever met. Well, and that Roshaun had been taken body and soul, as opposed to having his body lying in stasis somewhere.

I started jogging down the sidewalk, headed for home, thinking, _Where _is_ he? And how do I get to him?_ Normally I'm not much for running, but tonight it was the perfect temperature, the world silent and still except for the cool breeze that slid against my face. I felt like I could have kept running forever, faster and faster, until I left my mundane existence behind forever . . .

I had the answer. It hit me all of a sudden, bringing me to a halt, realization flooding through my body. I couldn't wait. I had to do it _right now_. That's how I am. I get an idea, and it obsesses me until I can do something about it. Which is why I had temporarily forgotten the fact that it was the middle of the night.

I took a moment to figuratively gather all my power into a neat little ball and calm myself down. Then, standing there in the middle of the sidewalk, I prepared to lie in the Speech.

Now, lying in the Speech is a tricky business. Technically, it's not allowed, but it's still physically possible. It's just that any lie you utter in the Speech becomes true, which is why you should be very, _very_, I can't possibly say "very" enough times to stress the importance of this, careful with your words. For instance, you can't just say "I can pass through this wall" because that ability could manifest itself in a lot of ways, not all of them entirely pleasant. So before actually saying the lie out loud, I planned it out, all in English, in my head, bypassing every hitch, misunderstanding, and side effect I could possibly think of. So, really it was just like making a spell. Only much more complicated. Trust me, lying in the Speech may be a useful little trick to know, but it's usually not worth the trouble.

But it worked. Thanks to my powers of deception, the same fate befell me as had befallen Roshaun – with one difference. I was wearing my transit necklace.

It was exactly like my dream. Except . . . Roshaun wasn't there. I started walking (on what kind of surface, I couldn't tell). It was a very strange feeling. I mean, I _knew_ I was moving, but the scenery never changed, so it felt like I was standing still. Maybe I was. Who knows? I know white light is supposed to represent enlightenment and goodness and all that jazz, but this white light was definitely different. It was just too _intrusive_. If I thought about it, I could feel it trying to seep through my skin. "Hello? Roshaun?" I called tentatively. I hadn't wanted to talk at all, for fear of alerting . . . something . . . to my presence. But what else was I supposed to do?

_What if this is a trap?_ The thought hit me like an arrow made of panic. For a minute all I could think was, _Holycrap! Get me out of here!_

Then I saw him, and I knew that this might be dangerous and weird beyond belief, but it was definitely real. He looked like someone who's been locked up in a dungeon for forever and is now so thin and pale that you can almost see right through him. His eyes were half-closed, his head hanging like he was asleep on his feet. But he was still, well, really hot.

"Um. Hi, Roshaun?" His eyes opened all the way, but failed to focus completely. "You_are_ Roshaun, aren't you? The wizard who disappeared on the Moon?"

"Yes. That's right," he addressed me in the Speech, "Roshaun ke Nelaid am Seriv am Teliuyve am Meseph am Veliz am Terianst am det Nuiiliat." Reciting his incredibly long name seemed to wake him up.

"I am Eternity. I have answered your call." I also used the Speech, giving my name in the most abbreviated, general form possible. I live in the age of identity theft, okay? I have reason to be cautious. And by the way, I wasn't talking like some Byronic hero on purpose. That's just how the Speech is. Some bits of it are still very archaic. Mostly the bits dealing with errantry and wizardry.

What happened next was _very_ strange indeed. The light started seeping around the edges of Roshaun's body, hiding him from my view. This was not good. This was _so_ not good. I stepped forward until I was right in front of him and stared into his once-again-blank green eyes. "Roshaun, wake up. Wake. Up. Now." I tried to grip his shoulders and shake him, but he was pulled away from me. What _was_ this? Wrong question. _Who_ was this? Because, although there were no specific thoughts or emotions attached, I was somehow being told that my place was out in the world, and Roshaun's was here. Which was just stupid. Because Roshaun definitely didn't _want_ to be here. He was desperate enough to ask a complete stranger for help. And this complete stranger was going to give it to him. I ran back towards Roshaun, who was in a daze again.

"Roshaun ke Nelaid am Seriv am Teliuyve am Meseph am Veliz am Terianst am det Nuiiliat," I called, putting an undertone of power into my words, "I am offering you a choice." I felt very empowered all of a sudden. I could feel my wizardry ebbing and flowing in my body, filling me up. It, in a word, rocked.

Roshaun looked at his body, which was being invaded by the light again, then at me. I continued, "You can stay here and fulfill whatever purpose you were brought in here for."

"No. I will not." Rather than sounding panicky, like I'm sure I would have in his situation, he sounded strong. Assured. Full of authority.

I procured my transit necklace from under my shirt. "Then come with me. Come on!" I reached out, grabbed his hand. He looked kind of see-through, and panicky again. He squeezed my fingers.

I opened the book-shaped locket that served as a worldgate into my closet. I felt the familiar falling sensation, but something was holding me back._Come on, come on. Please work_, I begged my spell silently. I poured more power into the locket. I was losing my grip on Roshaun's hand. Wildly, I grabbed for the most solid-looking part of him there was left – his long blond hair. I envisioned hands of power pushing against our backs . . . ropes of power anchored to my shelves, pulling us through . . . more hands reaching up to grasp us . . . I focused all my energy on this one task, clenching Roshaun's hair, determined _not_ to leave him behind . . .

And then we were through. I could see my closet floor rushing towards us.

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**Now . . . rate and review! I don't do this for free, you know.**\/p


	2. Questions

**I do not own this fandom . . .**

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**Yes, I took a ridiculously long time to update. You're not going to be happy to hear the next one is going to take even longer . . . it's been a long time since I read Wizards At War and I have to do background research. **

**I'd like to thank the one (!) person who sent a review . . . come _awn_, guys!**

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Thankfully, Roshaun emerged into Eternity's closet feet-first. He staggered, regained his footing, and looked around. This was a very different kind of place from Dairine's closet, which he had seen recently – larger, neater, the mostly-black clothes on shelves lining the walls.

He realized that he no longer needed to consciously remind himself of his identity, and that his body felt completely substantial and under his control. He was officially out of the light-world – but how? Who was this girl who called herself Eternity? Questions began to swirl around in Roshaun's mind, but were interrupted when something tugged rather hard on his hair. He uttered a mild curse word in Wellakhit and reached behind him. The girl's hand was still entangled in his hair, and she was sagging forward, unconscious. He extended an arm to support her. Of course – she'd expended a lot of power. She would probably be out for a while.

Cautiously, aware that this place was completely unknown to him, Roshaun slid open the closet door. It opened onto a girl's bedroom, hopefully Eternity's, decorated in red and black and silver. The only other door was closed, and it and all the windows bore spells in need of renewal. Roshaun carried Eternity to the ridiculously large bed and carefully laid her down. The necklace she'd used to transit was hanging open around her neck, and he shut it, just in case. He could see her chest rising and falling rhythmically, so he assumed she was just exhausted. He'd seen wizards burn out before, and this wasn't what it looked like.

He wandered around the room absently. Was she a normal wizard, this Eternity? Or did she have some kind of special power? It was impossible to tell anything about her from her room, especially considering the amount of contact Roshaun had had with human girls – next to none. He sat back down on the bed beside Eternity. Asleep, she looked much more vulnerable, certainly nothing like someone who could defeat something as powerful as whatever had been holding him prisoner – was it the Lone One? Or one of the other, benign Powers? Had he been rescued or stolen? _Wake up_, he ordered her silently, _I need answers._ His gaze fell on her hand, lying at her side. There was glint of familiar-looking metal there. Unaware of what he was doing, Roshaun picked up Eternity's hand to examine the ring she wore. It was a Wellakhit ring, of an unmistakably Wellakhit style and metal, but the dark blue stone was one that Roshaun was fairly confident did not exist on Wellakh.

The mystery around this girl was deepening every second, but it looked like some of Roshaun's questions were going to be answered. Eternity was waking up.

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I remembered landing in my closet, and then nothing else, so I must have passed out. For a second I was worried – I mean, any amount of magic that makes you faint can't be healthy. But I didn't feel any horrible side effects, besides the normal level of fuzzy-headed-ness, so I decided it had been totally worth it.

Then I realized someone was holding my hand. _Eek!_ I opened my eyes and got my first real look at the person I'd done all this for. He looked completely recovered from his time in the light (please – interpret that literally). Lucky bastard. And yes, he was holding my hand.

"Hey!"

"What?"

I pulled my hand out of his grip. We looked at each other awkwardly for a second. Finally I scrambled into a sitting position and introduced myself. "Eternity Silkwood, wizard. At your service."

"How is it, Eternity Silkwood, that you came to possess a Wellakhit ring?"

Wha-_huh_? For a second the words just sounded like nonsense. Then I realized, _Ring. Jewelry. As in, the one I'm wearing._ I looked at the aforementioned ring, which was on my middle finger. It was made of white gold and set with a midnight sapphire. I'd had it for years – ever since I first became a wizard. As far as I knew, it was just an ordinary ring. "But – I've never been to Wellakh," I stuttered.

Roshaun's eyebrows drew together. "This is definitely Wellakhit craftsmanship. And look – these are Wellakhit characters, though very embellished and archaic."

Okay, the archaic-ness of the characters was _really_ not the issue here. "What do they say?"

Roshaun and I both bent over my ring, so close our heads nearly touched. He had taken hold of my hand again. It was a little unsettling. I mean, he didn't even _ask_ first. But I guess if you're a prince, you can do these things. "This one here means absolute good, and this one means absolute evil," he explained. "They're sometimes used to denote the Hesper and the Lone One."

"Then why are they intertwined?" I asked.

"I do not know." He drew back and stared at me for a second. "This ring – how did you get it?"

O-kay, this conversation was about to get a little strange. "I, um. Kind of, um, stole it. For my Ordeal."

"Your Ordeal . . . was to steal a ring," Roshaun repeated in a tone of incredulity.

"Well, I mean, it was in this weird alternate universe, and all these people kept trying to stop me and I had to go through all these traps and stuff . . ." _I should shut up now_, I thought somewhat hazily_._ So I did.

To his credit, Roshaun chose to let the Ordeal thing go – temporarily, anyway. After all, the two of us had bigger stuff to deal with. "So, uh," I began, "you can go home now, or somewhere else, I guess, if you want too." I had just fully realized that this situation was

incredibly awkward. I wasn't really sure how to proceed. Would Roshaun just up and leave, or what?

Roshaun stood up, but made no move to go anywhere. It hadn't occurred to me before, but this had to be even more awkward for him than it was for me. I at least knew something about him. He knew absolutely nothing about me.

"Before I return home, I must know – what happened to me? Why did you come to my aid? Who _are_ you?"

"I already told you, my name is Eternity. I'm a wizard from Earth. I don't know what happened to you, but I dreamed that you asked me for help, so I started searching for you." I wondered how I was going manage to avoid mentioning the part of my search involving Dairine

and the mind-meld. I mean, vague answers were all good right now, but sooner or later I was going to have to tell the full story, right?

Roshaun shook his head in wonder. "Amazing."

"Yeah," I agreed. "How on earth did you send such a powerful message to a total stranger?"

"I haven't got the faintest idea, actually. I was thinking about being rescued rather a lot, so it's possible my subconscious could have somehow – ugh. This is too weird."

I grinned on the inside. Roshaun had never said anything as undignified as "Ugh, this is too weird" in Dairine's memories.

Suddenly I felt unbelievably tired – all my recent spell-work was catching up with me. "Look, let's talk in the morning, okay? We should probably both rest." Thank God tomorrow (or today, I guess) was Saturday. I really couldn't handle another school day knowing this amazing adventure was waiting for me.

I half-expected Roshaun to demand that we get going right now, but he didn't protest. _Hey, maybe I can do a commanding tone after all! How cool is that?_ was my unbelievably random thought.

But the more likely explanation was probably that he was just as tired as I was.

I offered to let Roshaun have my bed and me sleep on my love-seat . . . or floor . . . or something, even though I really didn't like the thought of my bed being commandeered by a strange guy. But, to my surprise, he declined. "Just stay there. Tomorrow we will return to Wellakh."

Just hold on a second. "We?"

"Of course, you are going to accompany me." I could only stare in confusion. "My parents will want to know the story of my return and thank the one who saved me."

Okay, judging from what Dairine, and thus me, remembered, Roshaun's parents were not exactly the most approachable people in the world. The thought of having to explain my dream and everything to them made me quail.

But I didn't know how much Roshaun thought I knew about his parents. Therefore, I didn't know what he'd expect my reaction to be. So I just settled for, "Um, alright, I guess I could do that." I didn't have school, after all, and I could easily evade my parents for one day.

I chucked my coat and bag on the floor next to my bed. In the unlikely event that I forgot about my mission, I'd certainly remember when I tripped over them in the morning. Worrying kept me awake for a little while. But very soon I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning, I took my first trip to Wellakh.

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**Next chapter -- Eternity meets Roshaun's parents! But not unless I see some reviews . . .**

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	3. Another Mission

**I bet you thought I abandoned this story, didn't you? Well, no, I UPDATED! YAY ME! I edited the end, so now it makes more sense, but I still suck at reunion scenes, sorry. **

**I have a definite (ish) idea for the fourth chapter, and this year I am forcing myself to write every day, so hopefully this one will take less than 4 months. Don't give up hope!**

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When I saw where Roshaun lived, my first reaction was something like, "Holy Christ on a bloody cross . . .!" (Dairine's memories just hadn't done the place justice.) But that was only a silent reaction. After all, this was Roshaun's turf, and I had an image to maintain.

"Do we have to change clothes?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

Roshaun nodded, looking at my errantry outfit – black jeans, boring shirt, sneakers. Hey, I always assumed errantry involved running around and getting dirty, not meeting royalty. Besides, every good wizard should know at least one clothing-altering spell . . . or so the Senior for my old neighborhood told me. But she was a totally kick-ass wizard, so I'm going to take her word for it.

Anyway, Roshaun disappeared behind a screen and I set about planning our grand entrance. I already knew I was going to do _something _dramatic. It's not every day these opportunities come along, you know. Now, about that image . . . what does one wear to announce the return of a lost son/king?

My friends call me "Gothic princess" because I wear stiletto heels and black lace instead of chains and combat boots. The dress I finally made for myself was proof that the nickname is justified. It was made of black (duh) silk-type stuff with a lacy overlay. It had a floor-length skirt and a sweetheart-type neckline with those sleeves that look like gloves and leave your shoulders completely bare. My sneakers became heeled black boots. My hair I just left the way I always wear it – down, with two little half-ponytails that stick up like ears or devil horns. I had trouble making a necklace, for some reason, but eventually I came up with a fairly straightforward onyx choker thing. (No, I don't know whether it was real onyx. It looked cool, so I decided what it was made of didn't really matter.) Under normal circumstances, I would have felt ridiculous, but amid all this opulence and clutter, it worked. _Really_ worked. With my fair skin, long, straight hair, and the heels adding to my already-above-average height, I looked almost Wellakhit.

It says a lot for Roshaun's appearance that he could wear what amounted to souped-up cowboy boots and beaded pants and still look like a Norse sex god. I wondered if I should change the color of my dress, then decided no – the black would look ultra-dramatic next to all this gold and red. Roshaun didn't say anything about my appearance, though he did look surprised. I hoped it was because he was too overwhelmed by my beauty, but I doubt that was the reason. He was probably just freaked about having to explain all this to his father.

I was freaked too, but I couldn't show it. I was scared of meeting the silent mob of Wellakhit subjects from Dairine's memories (what was so scary about them, anyway?? They were just people), but if I said anything . . . well, you know the story by now. I shouldn't have to keep repeating myself. Turns out, though, I didn't have to worry, because when we got outside, the place was totally deserted. _What the heck? Where is everybody?_ I wondered. Roshaun didn't look worried. He didn't look relieved, either. In fact, his facial expression hadn't changed much since we'd left my room. It was sort of unsettling. I decided to break the silence.

"So . . . where're your subjects, Sunlord?" I asked in what I hoped was a light, bantering tone.

Roshaun arched his eyebrows at me. "In the city, I suppose."

"City?" What city?? All I could see was wasteland.

"It is on the other side of the palace – on the live side of our planet."

Okay, that made sense. All those people had to live somewhere, didn't they?

"Do they like you?" Again, already knew the answer, but I _really_ wanted to figure these people (especially _this_ person) out.

"I fail to see why it matters. I am their king whether they like me or not." I could hear the false conviction in Roshaun's voice. He had an image to maintain, too. The thought was much less reassuring than I thought it would be.

As we rode up towards the throne room, or audience chamber, or whatever the thing was called, I mentally put together my act. One thing was for sure – I could _not_ be just another Earth kid who happened to be a wizard. That would equal total respect loss. I had to pretend I had totally _meant_ for everything to happen this way, as opposed to just muddling along the way I'd done. I had to be poised, and calm, and _not_ let on that this place made me all restless and shivery. I had faced down the thing that had captured Roshaun, so a mere humanoid should be nothing, right?

Just a side-note: If you ever meet the king and/or former king of a strange planet, _do not_ do what I am about to describe to you. Just _don't_. It's _not_ a good idea. Even though I did it and lived to tell the tale, that's no guarantee. We all know about the unconventional nature of my adventures.

We reached the burnished doors at the top of the enormous palace, and my heart sped up with excitement. "Roshaun?"

"Yes?"

"Can you just stay out here for a minute? I have an idea."

"This is my home. I fail to see why we need an idea."

Godཀ He was being really dense. "Do you _expect_ me to just _waltz_ in there and say, 'Hi, I brought your son back'?ཀ Look, maybe –" Whoops. I'd almost said "Maybe that worked for Dairine." That would have gone over great . . . not. Fortunately, I didn't have to worry about correcting my misstep, because Roshaun seemed to see where I was coming from. I mean, he was raised in a royal court, after all. He, of all people, should understand about pageantry.

"Is the dress okay?" I asked. "No weird spell malfunctions or anything?" I turned slowly on the spot.

"No, everything seems fine," Roshaun answered. He paused and looked at the floor. "You – You're very skilled."

_Well, _that_ was a bit socially awkward. Oh, well, I really don't have time to think about it now._

The doors swung open, admitting me into the vast, cavernous, intimidating hall. I saw Roshaun's father (was he the king again, or just a regent?) on his stool-like throne, with his wife – wait, that doesn't necessarily have to be true – Roshaun's mother standing close by. I thought they must have some sort of silent-alarm thing going, to alert them when someone's about to come in.

I strode forward, feeling my skirt swish around my legs. I hoped it looked as dramatic as I'd intended. "My name is Eternity Silkwood." Damn. My voice was really quiet. But the hall had great acoustics, so that helped. Nelaid and Miril were both looking at me cautiously. I prayed they didn't have some sort of trap built into their throne room floor. "I have found something which I believe is of great value to you."

For your information, I totally didn't rehearse that. It just came out. I felt the same way I had when I spoke to Roshaun in the light-world – as though even simply talking in the Speech made my words as powerful as spells. This time, though, my heart was beating so hard I thought I was going to have cardiac arrest. Rescuing people is a piece of cake compared to impressing them.

Even though he probably had no idea what he was supposed to do, Roshaun played his part _really_ well. It looked like we'd actually practiced. I don't know whether that was necessarily a good thing, but it was certainly dramatic. I turned my head in the direction of the doors, and right on cue Roshaun stepped out of the shadows. He looked so freakin' amazing, all backlit and stuffཀཀ I wanted to jump in the air and squeal like a fangirl, but . . . you know. My image, and everything.

This next scene was sweet and sickening at the same time, like something out of a sappy movie. Lady Miril kind of gasped and sighed at the same time. Nelaid looked like someone getting poisoned and choking, you know how they do in movies? Well, it was like that. Priceless, I know. Then –

"This is impossibleཀ You deceive usཀ" He was going to go on, I think, but I cut in. I had realized then what Nelaid probably thought about me. Oops. Small oversight on my part.

"That's really your sonཀ And I'm not working for the Lone Oneཀ" I said that in the Speech, so he kind of had to believe me.

While his father and I were shouting at each other, Roshaun had entered the hall and now stood close to us. His mother, who evidently had more faith in me than her whatever-he-was did, looked like, well, like someone who's just witnessed a miracle. "Roshaun . . ." she whispered. She said something else, but it was in her native language and I didn't have my manual's handy-dandy translating software (which was still under construction, anyway).

He answered her. The language they were speaking in sounded really pretty. Then she was hugging him and yelling at him and everything. (Hello, awkward?)

_I did it__ཀ_ I thought. _I made this happen. . . . and now it's over. I guess there's nothing more for me to do_.

But for now, I still had some explaining to do. While Roshaun and his mother were talking, Nelaid turned to me and asked simply, "How?" It's weird how so much meaning can be contained in just one word. He frowned. "Ke Khallahan led us to believe he was dead."

What? Oh – Dairine again. Every time I encountered that girl, I ended up liking her less.

"It was like this," I began, then changed my mind. "Maybe Roshaun should tell the story. He knows it better than I do." I hadn't heard the whole thing yet either. I was really curious. Maybe something had happened to him that would give us a clue as to why this had happened or why I was involved at all.

"Wait a moment," said Miril, holding up her hand. "You must both be tired. We should go some place more comfortable."

So we went to a little anteroom at the back of the hall. Even though I had zero exposure to Wellakhit interior decoration, I could already distinguish Roshaun's personal style enough to know that this room was not it. The Gothic overtones and penchant for clutter were there, but this room looked gauzier and more feminine. Miril seemed to be waxing hostess-like, so I guessed this might be one of her personal audience rooms. Assuming they had those on Wellakh. Anyway, my point is that this room was definitely her domain.

The less formal atmosphere made me, if possible, even more nervous. I mean, I was only a few feet away from _royalty_ hereཀ

The three Wellakhit sat down without seeming to stand on any sort of ceremony, so I perched myself on a chair and looked around some more. On a spindly table beside me was a little dish of hard candies. I knew they were edible because Nelaid popped one into his mouth (in a very dignified, royal way, of course). While Roshaun and his parents were muttering together, I took one cautiously. It was a little too sweet and tasted like a mixture of fake cherry and fake watermelon. Then I bit down on it. Turns out, the center had some sort of cream in it. And the cream tasted . . . well, imagine eating a whole handful of Starbursts at once. Then multiply that level of sweetness by about five. That's what the cream tasted like. Clenching my aching teeth, I stole a glance at Nelaid, who was munching away unconcernedly. I struggled to keep my discomfort from showing on my face. Roshaun looked over at me and smiled, so quickly and faintly that I almost missed it. I couldn't tell whether he was sympathetic, or just enjoyed watching me squirm.

Fortunately, our impromptu meeting began at that point, making me forget about the sickly sweet taste still clinging to the inside of my mouth. Yuck. "Now that we are all settled," announced Nelaid, "Roshaun can tell us his story."

Roshaun began. "As you know, the wizards of Earth all gathered on their Moon in a last attempt to destroy the Pullulus. I had the idea to channel some of their sun's energy through my body into some kind of blade with which to cut the Pullulus apart."

"Foolish boyཀ" Nelaid interjected. "Even Senior wizards cannot attempt that without days of preparationཀ"

Roshaun looked appropriately chastened. "Yes, I know. But I thought – perhaps – with Dairine aiding me –"

"I wish to hear no more of this Dairine who abandoned my son without a second thoughtཀ" cried Miril. Nelaid laid a hand on her arm. It was less of a comforting hand and more of a "Be quiet and stop acting so undignified" hand. Miril looked at him and subsided. Okay, apparently they were a little chauvinistic on Wellakh. I carefully kept my face neutral. _Totally new culture_, I reminded myself. _What do you know about it? Nothing._

"I – she –" Roshaun began in a voice of protest.

"We can discuss this later," Nelaid cut him off. "Continue." I had already realized that when Nelaid told you to do something, you do it. Roshaun continued.

I have to say, I'm something of an anarchist. There haven't been very many authority figures in my life that I haven't resented at least a little. (I should probably fix that before I enter the workforce.) So, my feelings for Nelaid were not terribly positive.

Anyway. . . . So, Roshaun continued with his story. "I was able to create a blade of light and damage the Pullulus," he said with some pride. Okay, quite a lot of pride. "But all that power was too much for me to control. I lost consciousness." He turned to me. "I trust – the escaped power caused no harm to anyone?" His face was neutral, but his green eyes were worried.

"Um, I don't think so, no," I answered. Actually, I wasn't entirely sure this was true. Maybe uncontrolled power was like radiation – no visible effects at first, but eventually damaging. And if that was the case, what effects had this feat had on Roshaun? Had he been somehow – changed? And what about _me_? Had the light-world done something to me and I just didn't realize it yet?

I was so absorbed in these thoughts that I almost missed the next part of Roshaun's tale. "When I woke, I was in a strange place. Hard white light was all around me. There was no sign of any ground or sky. I was unable to move or call upon any wizardry. I was also unable to remember anything, even so simple a thing as my name, without a conscious effort. It was as though my identity was being leached away.

"Then Eternity came."

"Wait, wait, waitཀ" I cried. "This doesn't explain why I dreamed about you."

Nelaid and Miril looked at me in confusion and, on Nelaid's part, some annoyance. "Oh, um, that's how I found out about Roshaun. I, uh, dreamed that he asked me for help," I explained, realizing how stupid the words sounded as soon as they came out of my mouth.

Miril asked, "What was this dream like?"

"Well, it was basically how Roshaun described it. I saw him in this light-world and he asked me to find him."

"I still have no memory of that," Roshaun interjected.

"Well, maybe – maybe it was someone else telling me, not you." The idea suddenly appeared in my mind and I found myself expanding on it, talking half to Roshaun and half to myself. "Maybe someone else wanted me to find you. Why they would pick _me_, and not someone who knew you already, I don't know, but that's not the point. What if someone – the Lone One, probably – kidnapped you, and one of the other Powers or some ultra-powerful alien wizard or something tried to help you by showing me where you were so I could rescue you? And they constructed the dream to seem like it was you asking for help, and not them, because that would seem less threatening. At least, to me it would . . ."

Roshaun interrupted, "If an Aethyr wished to help me, why would It not simply rescue me Itself?"

"Because – hm." I hadn't thought of that. "Well, it – it wouldn't have to be the Lone One who took you, necessarily. It could have been one of the Powers, and another Power was trying to thwart the first one's plans, whatever they were. I mean, I'm sure Powers have rivalries and stuff with each other, right?" Right? Can _you_ imagine a bunch of ultra-powerful beings ruling a universe together in _perfect harmony all the time_? I can'tཀ

Blank stares from all three Wellakhit greeted this latest revelation of mine. If there's such a thing as wizard heresy, I had probably just uttered it. Oh dear.

Then Roshaun arched his eyebrows at me. "_Ke_ Silkwood . . . the Aethyrs do not kidnap people."

"Roshaun . . ." I tried to mimic his tone. "I highly doubt the Lone One operates in a place filled with light."

"Obviously," Nelaid interjected smoothly, "there is only one way to find the answer to this question." We both looked at him. "You must go and look for it."

"Our people –"

"Can manage without you." Nelaid said firmly. "Whatever is happening, we cannot simply allow it to run its course."

Miril spoke up, saying, "So you would send our son straight into the arms of this unknown danger?"

"I understand the danger inherent in this mission." Nelaid looked over at me, "Eternity _ke_ Silkwood, you protected Roshaun once. I trust you can do so again."

I stared blankly. "You – want me to go on errantry."

"Yes."

"Now."

"As soon as possible."

"And this – mission, it could take a long time."

"Hopefully not."

"I – I _can't_."

"You mustཀ" This from Miril.

"Seriously, I don't think I can . . ."

"Why not?" asked Nelaid in one of those soft, dangerous voices.

Somehow, Nelaid had gone from distrusting me to pretty much entrusting me with Roshaun's life. I would have greatly preferred if he had stuck to distrusting. _You know what?_ I thought. _Screw my image__ཀ_ I'd just tell them the truth. Well, part of it, anyway. "My parents won't let me go."

"Is that all?" To my slight surprise, and great annoyance, Nelaid looked not angry, as I had expected, but relieved. "I am sure you will be able to persuade them to change their minds."

I started to protest again, but fell silent. In all my years of wizardry, I had never had an assignment as interesting as this. Was I really going to let something as silly as my parents stand in my way? Nelaid was right – I would find some way around them.

I sighed. "When do we leave?"

Roshaun stood. "Now."

Miril stood too. "Without saying goodbye to us?"

I moved towards the door. "I'll leave you three alone, I guess. I have to change my clothes back, anyway."

"Wait," said Miril. She bestowed a glowing smile on me. It was a bit scary, but nice, too. I so rarely do things that are glowing-smile worthy. "You returned our son to us when we thought he was lost forever. Thank you."

"Heh. Um, you're welcome." I blushed and exited. Nelaid inclined his head to me as I went. I supposed that was all the thanks I'd get from him.

At the back of the giant throne room, I changed back into my normal clothes, thereby transforming from a powerful, confident wizard into a powerful, inexperienced wizard who just got _way_ out of her depth. Roshaun joined me and I took out my transit necklace. "I have to say," I began, "I'm probably not the amazing bodyguard Nelaid thinks I am. To be honest, I don't know if I can protect you. I still don't know if I can even go with you at all."

"We will make it work." Roshaun announced with absolute certainty. "I see that necklace again. Are we transiting?"

"If I'm really coming with you –"

"It is highly probable that in whatever events are to come, you will be just as involved as I. We should both know what it is we will be facing."

"So, basically, I have no choice."

"Yes. That is essentially it."

"Well, okay then. I think I should go home and get my act together, and you can stay here and change and pack and everything and I'll meet you back here tomorrow, okay?"

"Can you get back here on your own?"

"Of _course_." I'd have to do it the traditional way, which would take a lot of energy, but I could do it. I was sort of counting on us doing some research first, before careening madly into the universe on our bizarre quest.

Roshaun smiled at me. An actual, normal-looking, friendly smile. "Well, goodbye for now then, _ke_ Silkwood."

"See you soon."

* * *

**Oh right -- I don't own Young Wizards. If I did, Dairine would not even exist.**


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